When the resetting of of subprime mortgages was going to affect only the homeowners involved, there were no shortage of people who espoused Rand who commented that helping the homeowners would "reward bad behavior." But now that the mess has spread, there seems to be no qualms about coming to the rescue of the big banks and financial institutions that profited hugely from the making, bundling, repackaging and the "securitization" of those mortgages. Or those that insured the value of those quote securities unquote.
Bet you won't hear a peep from the disciples of Rand about bailing out the big guys. After all, they have to protect the phony-baloney jobs of people who profited hugely from the packaging of those subprime mortgages. Those guys made salaries and bonuses of seven to nine figures a year; the government is tripping over its feet in a rush to help those guys out. But when it comes to those being foreclosed upon, not so much.
The "conservatives" are rushing to save the banks, but when it comes to putting a few bucks in the hands of poor people, you hear comments along the lines of "they're just going to buy cheap Chinese shit from Wal-Mart."
So it seems that "suck it up, that's capitalism" only applies to working stiffs. If you draw a paycheck, it sucks to be you. But if you have enough scratch and you are big enough so that your bad behavior will hurt others, the government will sprain its rhetorical muscles in its haste to save you.
Maybe we can borrow the Aurora from the Russians
And we can ask the French to send over Marianne to lead the charge
" A little revolution, now and then, is a healthy thing." - Thomas Jefferson
And....
ReplyDeletein another headfake this morning, Pelosi states that she and Boner have come to a verbal agreement with Stupie McFuckwit to go even further in the hole and dish out another six hundred to twelve hundred to us angry villagers lest we actually light the torches and grab the pitch forks.
WalMart rejoices.
And they are going to cave on FISA.
ReplyDeletespineless fucks.
In fact, advocates of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism are opposed to any and all government bailouts, whether of individuals or corporations. We're also opposed to the government regulations of the finance industry that created this crisis in the first place by encouraging irresponsible lending practices.
ReplyDeleteFor more details, you can listen this podcast interview of Ayn Rand Institute analyst Alex Epstein.